1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an electronic flash light-emission controlling apparatus and a camera with a built-in electronic flash. More particularly, this invention relates to technics that are applied to a camera that can perform a shooting with an appropriate exposure by utilizing the electronic flash.
2. Description of Related Art
A camera whose electronic flash is used even under conditions (external light brightness) in which an appropriate exposure can be obtained without the light of the electronic flash is already known (U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,015). A method of controlling a camera with an automatic exposure (AE) function so that the exposure by the AE is high when a negative color film is used has been proposed (U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,364 and Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9-211524).
The latitude of the negative film is large enough to allow a high exposure, and thus there is not a problem if the exposure by the electronic flash is added to the exposure by the AE and the light of the electronic flash cancels a shade of the subject formed by a back light or the like. If the same control with the negative film is performed when a positive film is used, however, a photograph of a good quality can not be taken since the latitude of the positive film is small.
It is therefore an subject of the present invention to provide an electronic flash light-emission controlling method and apparatus and a camera that controls a light of an electronic flash so that a subject can be shot with an appropriate exposure according to the type of a film in use.
The above subject can be accomplished by providing an electronic flash light-emission control method, comprising the steps of: realizing a latitude of a photo film; and adjusting an exposure by an electronic flash according to the latitude of the photo film.
According to the present invention, when a photo film whose latitude is small is used, the exposure by the electronic flash is reduced. Therefore, an over exposure is prevented and a photograph of a good quality can be taken.
The above subject can be accomplished by providing an electronic flash light-emission control apparatus, comprising: a realizing device that realizes a latitude of a photo film; and an electronic flash exposure adjusting device that adjusts an exposure by an electronic flash according to the latitude of the photo film.
The above subject can be accomplished by providing a camera provided with the electronic flash light-emission control apparatus, the camera comprising: a photometry device that determines a brightness of a subject; an automatic exposure adjusting device that automatically adjusts at least one of the following, a diaphragm and a shutter, according to the brightness determined by the photometry device so that an appropriate exposure is obtained; and the electronic flash that emits a light in association with an opening and closing operation of the shutter to give the light to the subject.
According to the present invention, the realizing device realizes the latitude of the film in use, and the electronic flash exposure adjusting device adjusts the exposure by the electronic flash according to the latitude. Therefore, the shooting can be performed with the appropriate exposure with whatever kind of film is used.